Tuesday, December 08, 2009

EPA Regs and Increased Costs

The Morning Call has an article (read it here) on the new emissions regulations that are expected to be proposed by the EPA and their impact on Pennsylvania, particularly the cement plants and PPL.

According to the article PPL produces 60% of its electricity from fossil fuels and the regulations will drive this number down and increase costs as new nuclear facilities will have to be constructed to replace coal.  Further, coal producing areas will see job losses.  Mandated investment in new facilities will mean increased costs to the consumer to pay for it, and it couldn’t come at a worse time in PA as electric rate caps will already result in significantly higher costs.

The Lehigh Valley has the greatest concentration of cement plants that use kilns than anywhere else in the country.  The emissions regulations will have a significant impact on these companies, as well, and let’s hope it won’t on their workforce, or our unemployment rate of 10% will start to look pretty good.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

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